Monthly Archives: September 2008

Post navigation

West Torrance took care of North Torrance in four games on Tuesday, rallying after dropping the first game.

Lindsey Walsh had another big game, but the Warriors spread it around a little more than they did in a five-game comeback over Torrance last week.

West improved to 8-2 on the season, including big victories over crosstown rivals North Torrance and Torrance of the Pioneer League.

In almost any other league, West might be considered a league favorite. Unfortunately it has to battle it out in arguably the state’s toughest league with Mira Costa, Redondo, Peninsula and Palos Verdes, where even making the playoffs is a remarkable feat.

But at least they are building momentum for a run at a league playoff berth.

The Daily Breeze is going to start running stat leaders this coming week. Coaches, please get your stats to the Breeze by Tuesday at noon.

If you are updating your stats on maxpreps.com, we can get those from the Web site. But if your team isn’t updating on maxpreps, then we need you to either fax your stats to 310-540-6272 or email to tony.ciniglio@dailybreeze.com. Please provide rushing, passing, receiving, sacks and interceptions and make sure all the sub-categories are covered (ie carries, TDs, XX-for-XX passing, INTs, catches).

Players and parents, please make sure the coaches at your school are aware of this request so your team can be part of our stats package.

Week 3 is in the books, and the South Bay football scene is starting to shape up. Here’s the latest take on South Bay football.

Biggest statement: Narbonne. The Gauchos went up against a good Mira Costa team coming off a road win at Esperanza and made them look, well, like Hamilton. The Gaucho defense, the backbone of this team, was too much for Mira Costa, and quarterback Josh Moten made all the right plays. Narbonne won, 38-14, this time not letting Mira Costa make its usual second-half comeback.

Biggest surprise: Kudos to South Torrance, which surprised Palos Verdes in overtime in a battle of winless teams. Running back John White had a huge game, scoring five touchdowns (three rushing, two receiving), including the game-winner in overtime in a 41-35 win. The good news for Palos Verdes is that it finally scored, but an 0-3 start should be alarming for this would-be Bay League title contender.

Biggest bounceback: West Torrance reasserted its authority with a 30-6 shellacking of previously unbeaten Bishop Montgomery (yeah, that’s a strange description of the Knights). West picked off Bishop quarterback Brian Cabanas four times and was not about to let Bishop go 3-0 at its expense.

Honorable mention goes to Peninsula, which averted an 0-3 start with a 21-20 win at Palisades, giving co-coaches Adam Boyd and Kevin Moen their first win. But a one-point victory at Palisades shows the Panthers have a lot of work still ahead of them.

Strong Marine League showing: In addition to Narbonne’s one-sided victory, San Pedro and Banning beat quality L.A. City Section opponents in Garfield and San Fernando. Carson held its own against powerhouse Long Beach Poly in a 14-0 loss, and even Gardena nearly pulled a stunner in a 21-20 loss to unbeaten Culver City. And don’t forget dangerous Washington pulled out an 8-7 win at Westchester.

High-flying Lawndale: Yes, those mighty Cardinals were at it again, scoring 55 points in another easy victory over Firebaugh. It’s fun watching Lawndale put up a ton of points, but be aware that the Cardinals went 0-for-the-Pioner League after posting impressive scores in a 4-1 start last year.

Top to bottom: Serra, Narbonne, San Pedro, Torrance, North Torrance and Lawndale are among the area’s unbeatens. Palos Verdes is the lone winless team in the South Bay after several programs (West, South Torrance, Peninsula, St. Bernard in particular) posted their first wins. Who would’ve thought that?

Facing a hostile road environment, the Mira Costa girls volleyball team held on for a 25-13, 25-22, 16-25, 16-26, 15-12 nonleague victory at Los Alamitos on Thursday, beating the Griffins for the second time in five days.

Falyn Fonoimoana had 27 kills, 13 digs, two aces and some key blocks in the fifth game for Mira Costa. Sheridan Taylor added 11 kills and five digs. Alyssa Anderson had 50 assists, four kills and nine digs, Andi Zbojniewicz added 25 digs and Alex McBride had four kills and three digs.

Anderson and Zbojniewicz served tough in the fifth game to help Mira Costa (8-2) get over the hump.

“They had a nice crowd, and to get behind and give up momentum in the middle of the match is tough,” Mira Costa coach Lisa Zimmerman said. “It was a big win to pull together, to believe in each other and to make the big plays when we needed too.”

OK, so Palos Verdes freshman Rebecca Mehra won the rated race at the Woodbridge Invitaitonal in Irvine last Saturday, so she wasn’t going to sneak up on anyone.

But that didn’t make her performance at Thursday’s opening Bay League meet any less impressive.

Mehra rallied past Redondo’s Chloe Curtis and secured a second-place finish in 19 minutes, 46 seconds on the Palos Verdes course, 20 seconds behind Mira Costa’s Savannah Pio. It was particularly impressive since Mehra said she is battling tendonitis in both her hips.

“My team put me at the front of the (starting) line because I won the rated race at Woodbridge, but I didn’t know how I’d do,” Mehra said. “It was pretty fun to race against fast people like Savannah and Chloe. I was really happy with how I did.”

Leuzinger’s Jose Lezama may be the reigning Daily Breeze Runner of the Year, but there was a chance that Leuzinger’s cross country program was not going to take off this year.

The Centinela Valley Unified School District had canceled all non-football fall sports in its high schools, but Coach Erich Tucker and Lezama found a way to continue competing this year by raising their own funds to compete.

Tucker took the job on a volunteer basis, and Lezama received a major boost from one of his old P.E. teachers to keep him running.

Jesus Mejia, a P.E. teacher at Roosevelt Elementary School in Lawndale, was Lezama’s biggest contributor, donating $100 to the Keep Lezama running fund.